chisel

Etymology 1

From Middle English chisel, chesel, from Old Northern French chisel, cisel, from cisoir (with a change in suffix), from Late Latin cīsōrium (“cutting tool”), from Latin caedere (“cut”).

noun

1. A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end.

verb

1. (intransitive) To use a chisel.
2. (transitive) To work something with a chisel.
   She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood.
3. (transitive, intransitive, informal) To cheat, to get something from (someone) by cheating.

Etymology 2

From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ċeosol, ċeosel, ċysel, ċisel, ċisil (“gravel, sand”), from Proto-West Germanic *kesul (“small stone, pebble”). See also chessom.

noun

1. Gravel.
2. (usually in the plural) Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.